Martin Scorsese's feature film to screen at Vatican

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November 22, 2016 4:05 PM

In "Silence," two Jesuit Portuguese Catholic priests face violent persecution when they travel to Japan to spread Christianity.

"Silence" poster

Ahead of its December 23 release, Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated feature film,

The movie will screen on November 29 to an audience including several Jesuit priests, New York Times reports. It has not been confirmed if Pope Francis, a Jesuit, will be in attendance.

"Silence" is not the first movie to be promoted by the Vatican. In 2003, Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" was endorsed by Pope John Paul after a private screening.

Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken" was the last Hollywood production to get a Vatican screening.

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Screenplay by Scorsese and Jay Cocks, the movie is based on the book "Silence" by Shusaku Endo, and is produced by Scorsese, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Randall Emmett, Barbara Defina, Vittorio Cecchi Gori, and Irwin Winkler.

"Silence" stars Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, Tadanobu Asano, Issey Ogata, Ciaran Hinds, Yosuke Kubozuka, and Yoshi Oida.

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About movie:

Two Jesuit Portuguese Catholic priests face violent persecution when they travel to Japan to seek out their mentor and spread the teachings of Christianity.

With the December 23 release, "Silence" opens two days after the anticipated sci-fi drama "Passengers," and video game adaptation "Assassin's Creed."

"Silence" is scheduled to have a limited release on December 23, 2016, before receiving a wide release in January 2017.

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